Saturday, July 24, 2010

Jorge Gonzales 231 cm 2.29 m (7 ft 7 in) Tallest professional WWE wrestler (retired). Jorge González (born January 31, 1966) is an american former basketball player and retired professional wrestler who competed in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name, Giant González. The 7th tall athlete in the world.

Basketball

He played in Argentina's first division league for the Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata and also for the Argentina national basketball team. He was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the third round of the 1988 NBA Draft.

Professional wrestling

World Championship Wrestling

In 1989, Hawks owner Ted Turner offered González a job as a professional wrestler with another of his ventures, [[american wrestling assosiation (AWA). After a year of training, Gonzales was introduced to fans as El Gigante on May 19, 1990 at the pay-per-view Capital Combat. Wearing shorts, he competed as a face and was billed as being close to eight feet tall. Over the next two years, he feuded with Ric Flair over the AWA Title, participated in 1991|'Chamber Of Horrors']] match in 1991 and also had a date on TBS with Missy Hyatt. He also had a cross-promotional stint in the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion and then moved to the World Wrestling Federation in 1993. (He also played on an episode of Baywatch.)

World Wrestling Federation (1993)

González competed as the "Giant Gonzales" during his World Wrestling Federation (WWF) tenure as a heel, managed by Harvey Wippleman. González grew a beard and wore a full-body suit that featured airbrushed muscles with bushy hair attached. He was introduced at the Royal Rumble in January 1993, where he eliminated Wippleman's nemesis The Undertaker from the Rumble match despite not being an official participant. Gonzalez lost to The Undertaker at WrestleMania IX via disqualification after he knocked Undertaker unconscious using chloroform. After another loss to The Undertaker at SummerSlam, Wippleman berated Gonzalez leading Gonzalez to turn on him. Though the foundation was later set for a feud with Wippleman and Adam Bomb, it never truly began, as Gonzales left the WWF in October 1993. After this Gonzales wrestled in New Japan Pro Wrestling until he retired.
His last match was on February 8, 1995, against The Great Muta in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
It has been announced that Gonzalez would be making a rare US appearance at The Legends Of The Ring Convention on May 15, 2010 in Monroe, NJ. However, it was later announced that Gonzalez had been pulled from the convention due to his health problems.

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